Entertainment mogul: Starting his business with the internet

Chapter 269 Everyone Wants to Get Rich
"How many groups of fans have come to visit him on set since he joined the production?"

Ren Quan, sitting in the rest area of ​​the "Myth" crew in Hengdian, gestured towards Hu Ge, who was surrounded by fans not far away.

There was envy in her tone, but also a hint of helplessness regarding the disparity in popularity among celebrities.

Li Yixiang, who plays Liu Bang, looked on with envy: "I can't remember exactly, but it must have been at least twenty waves. It's really popular!"

"The director doesn't do anything about it, just letting fans come and visit the set!"

"Director Jiang is from Hong Kong and is good at creating hype. He'd love to get more fans to help boost the popularity of 'The Myth'."

"The new generation surpasses the old, and Hu Ge is really popular now!" Ren Quan said with emotion, a hint of melancholy flashing in his eyes.

He was popular for a while when he starred in "Young Justice Bao", but unfortunately he failed to seize the opportunity to maintain his popularity and gradually fell behind compared with first-tier male stars such as Huang Xiaoming and Deng Chao.

Li Yixiang couldn't help but mutter, "At least you were once famous, I'm just trying to make a living in the entertainment industry."

Since they were both born in 73, they had a lot in common as peers. After getting to know each other on set, they became friends and would get together to chat when they weren't filming.

At this moment, the stagehand brought two cups of coffee to the two of them: "Teacher Ren, Teacher Li, Teacher Jing has treated us to coffee today."

The two exchanged a glance and then reached out to take it.

Li Yixiang glanced at the coffee in his hand and secretly clicked his tongue: "This Miss Jing Tian is really rich. Just treating the crew to food and drinks must have cost hundreds of thousands."

Ren Quan took a sip, the bitter and rich taste melting in his mouth. He calculated for a moment: "It's more than that. The Myth is a large production with nearly a thousand people. Each person would spend almost 2 yuan on a cup of coffee."

There are also other miscellaneous expenses like drinks, fruits, food, and gifts; the total comes to over a million. If this continues, even her entire film salary probably won't be enough to cover them.

Li Yixiang shook his head as he listened: "Why do these rich young ladies bother with all this? They're so wealthy, why do they have to get involved in the murky waters of the entertainment industry? Filming isn't an easy job."

However, to be fair, both young ladies have very good tempers; they are neither pretentious nor spoiled.

"Maybe it's because of interest." Ren Quan also couldn't understand it. First, the female lead, Jing Tian, ​​would bring food and drinks to the entire crew every day, acting as if she didn't care about money.

Two days later, Tangren's top actress Liu Shishi arrived at the film set, driving a multi-million dollar RV and wearing a multi-million dollar watch, proving herself to be a wealthy woman.

Li Yixiang took a big gulp of coffee to perk himself up: "But both of you are quite dedicated, especially Jing Tian. Even when Director Jiang scolded her so harshly that day, she didn't get angry and humbly accepted the criticism."

This is much better than the leading ladies I've encountered on previous film sets. As for Liu Shishi, her personality is also quite good, pretty much as described online—gentle and amiable.

He praised the two young actresses for their professionalism and character. In his many years on set, he had seen too many actors who acted like divas and were unprofessional, but Jing Tian and Liu Shishi's performance impressed him.

Before joining a production, even a minor supporting actor like him would research the director, lead actors, and other important characters to avoid accidentally offending anyone.

Jing Tian has only acted in one TV series since his debut, and there is very little information about him online, with no reliable news.

But that top actress from Tangren Media is currently very popular, and she's been trending on social media every few days lately. He specifically looked into Liu Shishi's situation, and found that she has an excellent reputation in the industry.

Such a person is either genuinely kind and humble, or adept at deception and self-promotion. However, after spending the last few days filming together, he discovered that Liu Shishi was indeed as described online.

"By the way, Lao Ren, didn't you say you started an investment company with Li Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming a while ago? What's been going on lately? With so many film and television projects in the industry every year, haven't you found one that you like?"

Ren Quan nodded slightly: "There really aren't any projects I'm interested in."

"The other day it was reported that Liu Shishi's studio invested in a TV series and Xu Zheng's movie. Young people these days are really something, already moving into the world of capital. You, as a senior, need to step up your game and not be overtaken by the newcomers."

Ren Quan retorted, unconvinced, "My investment company isn't limited to investing in film and television projects; its main focus is the internet."

When the topic of investment came up, Ren Quan became smug, but he was somewhat disdainful of the projects that Liu Shishi had her eye on.

He knew about the two projects that Tangren's top actress had invested in; they were both low-budget films that wouldn't make much money and couldn't compare to his own big investments.

Last year, he went to great lengths to persuade his two partners to invest all their funds in LeEco.

After Operation Sharp Sword last month, the online copyright of film and television dramas became almost ten times more expensive, and LeTV's valuation doubled as a result. This allowed him to show off in front of Li Bingbing and Huang Xiaoming, who praised him as an investment genius.

Thinking of this, Ren Quan's lips unconsciously curled up. Now, LeTV is the second largest copyright holder after Tengda Group's TT Video Network, and has attracted the attention of many venture capital institutions.

Once it goes public in two or three years, his investment today will yield at least ten times the return, which is better than the likes of Liu Shishi investing in ten or twenty films and television dramas.

Li Yixiang was slightly startled upon hearing this, not expecting Ren Quan to be so ambitious, directly venturing into internet projects.

His heart immediately stirred, and he wanted to follow him around. He pleaded with a fawning expression, "Old Ren, I've saved up some money over the years. Do you have any good internet projects you can get me to invest in?"

Ren Quan originally wanted to refuse, as investment is a serious matter and he didn't want to bring just anyone into the game.

But then the beautiful blueprint envisioned by Jia Yueting suddenly came to mind—that breathtakingly grand dream. LeEco opened its doors to entertainment stars, welcoming investment.

"You really want to get involved?" Ren Quan squinted, scrutinizing Li Yixiang.

"There's hope!" Li Yixiang's eyes lit up, and he nodded hurriedly, "I'm serious."

Ren Quan leaned closer and said, "I won't lie to you, I invested in LeTV, but Mr. Jia doesn't even look at it. If you want to get a share, you need at least ten million."

"LeTV!" Li Yixiang was overjoyed. Now that copyright is valued, the top video websites are all highly sought after. However, he hesitated when he heard that the investment required was 10 million yuan.

To raise this money, he would have to sell everything he owned and use all his savings from the past few years, but that would be too risky.

"Bro, could you give me a discount?"

Seeing Li Yixiang's conflicted expression, Ren Quan shook his head helplessly: "Who do you think Boss Jia is? He doesn't need three or five million."

"Right now, major investment institutions are scrambling to invest in LeEco. It's only because I invested early and have some connections that I can get you a stake. Don't even think about it if it's less than ten million."

Li Yixiang thought about it and agreed. Nowadays, any internet company that's even remotely popular has a valuation of hundreds of millions, and the currency is US dollars.

They're already being very kind by including me; the only option now is to chip in with my friends in the industry to cover the cost.

"Brother, give me a few days, I'll scrape together ten million. I won't thank you enough, consider this a huge favor I owe you. If you ever need my help again, just let me know."

Ren Quan was secretly delighted, but on the surface he remained calm and composed: "We're all friends, why be so formal!"

"Senior Brother Li, what are you saying? You seem so happy!"

Li Yixiang was startled. He turned around and saw Chen Zihan. He patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief: "Junior sister, how come you walk so quietly and suddenly dart out like that? You scared me to death!"

Chen Zihan, also holding a cup of coffee, sat down next to the two and chuckled, "I just walked over normally; you two were too engrossed in your conversation. What good news is it? Share it with me!" Li Yixiang grinned; he had just been thinking about how to raise the money, and now someone had delivered it right to his doorstep.

He and Chen Zihan both graduated from the Beijing Film Academy and knew each other in college. They have always had a good relationship, so he figured she wouldn't refuse if he asked. In fact, she might have been eager to take the opportunity.

However, even though Ren Quan was in person, he still needed to ask for the other party's opinion. The two exchanged a subtle glance, and with the other party's tacit approval, Li Yixiang understood and relayed the conversation in detail.

Chen Zihan listened intently, her eyes widening as a keen interest shone through. For a mid-tier actress like her, her income was usually just a meager stipend for her work.

Good endorsements are rarely available to them, as they are almost monopolized by top actresses and popular young actresses. Now that they have the opportunity to make big money, they are naturally very happy to take it.

Chen Zihan's eyes shone brightly, full of anticipation: "Senior brother, are you willing to take me with you to get rich?"

Li Yixiang nodded slightly: "Of course, otherwise why would I tell you this! Now that popular celebrities in the entertainment industry are becoming more and more powerful, we small actors have to stick together and find other ways to make money."

Overjoyed, Chen Zihan stood up and gracefully bowed, displaying the heroic spirit of a chivalrous woman from the martial arts world: "Then this little sister thanks my two senior brothers."

Li Yixiang quickly waved his hand: "No need to be so formal, come, come, let's discuss this in detail."

There are no secrets on set. After the three of them discussed it in the morning, Chen Zihan couldn't withstand Zhang Meng's questioning and revealed the matter again.

By the time the crew wrapped up for the night, almost all the actors knew that Ren Quan had connections to invest in LeTV.

Moreover, the rumors became increasingly outlandish, eventually evolving into the claim that Ren Quan was a major shareholder of LeTV, and that a group of actors were all vying to curry favor with him.

When the moon was bright and the stars were few, the leading lady's luxury RV was quietly parked in a corner of the film set, and Hu Ge stood in front of the car door, pacing back and forth.

Inside the train carriage, Liu Shishi was nestled on the sofa, chatting with her sister-in-law. In a few days, Liu Yuqing and one of her fans would be visiting the set in Hengdian.

“Yuqing, it’s fine for you to visit the set, but you should still tell your brother first.”

"Okay, sister-in-law, you should prepare a lot of autographed photos, especially Longkui's, my classmate really likes them."

"No problem, enough."

"Senior Sister!"

Hearing Lin Xia's call, the top female assistant stopped editing the WeChat message and looked up at her assistant: "What's wrong?"

“Um,” Lin Xia pointed out the car window, “Teacher Hu has been outside the car the whole time. I noticed him pacing back and forth for a while now. He seems to have something on his mind.”

"Is Lao Hu outside?" Liu Shishi quickly got up, parted the curtains, and looked outside.

"Should we let Teacher Hu get on the bus?"

"I'll get off." Sister Yi shook her head. It was already dark, and it was obviously inappropriate for her to put Lao Hu in the car. There were many people on the film crew, and some things needed to be kept in mind. It would be better to talk about things outside.

As he spoke, he straightened his clothes, opened the car door, and walked out.

"Old Hu!" A crisp voice interrupted Hu Ge's thoughts. Looking up, he saw Sister Yi getting out of the car with a smile on her face.

"I heard from Lin Xia that you've been here for a while. Is there something you need?"

Hu Ge nodded and asked, "Shishi, have you heard about what happened on set today?"

Liu Shishi tilted her head: "Invest in LeTV?"

"Yes."

"I heard Zhang Meng mention it, but what does that have to do with us?"

Hu Ge hesitated for a moment, but finally revealed her intention: "I also want to invest in LeTV, but I'm not sure. I wanted to ask you to ask President Song if investing in LeTV is a reliable project."

Unlike Li Yixiang and Chen Zihan, who were blindly confident in LeTV, he had some understanding of the internet because he had a lot of contact with Liu Shishi and often heard her talk about Tengda Group.

He knew that all domestic video websites, including LeTV and Tudou, had a major obstacle in front of them: Tenda's TT Video Network.

That's the leader in the video network industry. The more he understands the power of TT Video Network, the more cautious he becomes, and naturally he won't blindly invest in LeTV.

Liu Shishi was slightly surprised: "Old Hu, why are you suddenly interested in investing?"

"It's not that I'm interested in investing, it's that I'm interested in making money. Could you ask Mr. Song for me?"

"No problem." The eldest sister readily agreed and immediately took out her phone to call her fiancé. She was happy to ask him, but she wouldn't insist if Mr. Song was willing to give advice.

The call connected quickly, and Liu Shishi got straight to the point: "Honey, where are you? At home? Then I need to tell you something. Today on set… Lao Hu asked me to ask you if LeTV is reliable?"

"Put it on speakerphone. I'll talk to him directly."

"Okay!" Liu Shishi moved the phone away from her ear and turned on speakerphone.

"Hu Ge!"

Tangren's top executive perked up and respectfully replied, "I'm here, President Song."

There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone, as if Song Ci was deep in thought. Hu Ge didn't dare to urge him and stood up straight.

"Investing is actually about investing in people. I haven't met Mr. Jia, so I don't know his abilities or character. But judging from his words and actions, he has big ambitions. The internet industry is booming right now, and LeTV will definitely be in a period of growth in the short term."

After listening to Song Ci's words, Hu Ge seemed to understand something. Everyone is investing in LeTV now, and the website's valuation will definitely rise in the short term, but the future is uncertain. We need to find the right time to get off the bus and cash out, otherwise we may be trapped.

But as a celebrity, he doesn't have a deep understanding of the internet, so he couldn't seize this opportune moment.

Staring blankly at the phone in the first sister's hand, Hu Ge asked as if possessed, "President Song, I want to get rich. Do you have any good investment projects to recommend to me?"

After saying that, Hu Ge herself felt that she had been a bit rash and secretly regretted it.

However, Song Ci gave an unexpected reply: "Yang Mi asked me the same question last time, and I gave her an answer."

Since you've asked today, and Shishi is here in person, I can't show favoritism. I'll give you some guidance, but this is a one-time exception.

Hu Ge was overjoyed upon hearing this, her voice trembling as she said, "Thank you! Thank you, Shishi."

"Go buy Moutai stock, sell it in a few years, and you'll make ten times your initial investment without any problem."

(End of this chapter)